Donaldson pulling a Jeter? Shades of Armando Galarraga on a play at first in a perfect game? John Gibbons looking like he’s sucking on a lemon but really he just happened to glimpse Brett Cecil? The eighth was thick with humidity. The tension was buzzing from a few bugs that made their way inside the domed stadium as Marco Estrada went for a perfect game. Unfortunately, Donaldson diving into the stands to make the first out in the 8th, when the announcers said he was “pulling a Jeter,” didn’t stop the infield hit on the very next batter when Logan Forsythe just barely beat it out to first. To misquote that previous sentence, it would be the first time a pulling Jeter had to beat it out. Marco ended the game with 8 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks and 10 Ks. He’s now allowed three hits in his previous two starts (over 15 2/3 IP). Estrada’s main peccadillo — or ponchadillo, as might be the case with Estrada — is he allows a shizzton of homers and he pitches his home games in Toronto. He’s recently looked untouchable, and I’d stay with the theme and not touch him. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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Ittttttttttt’s sooooooo haaaaaaaaard to saaaaaaaay gooooooodbyyyyyyye to yesterdaaaaaaaaaaay. Greetings! Yes, yes, I’m back, needing a week off to mourn the ending of another epic season of Game of Thrones. (Be sure to check out the Razzball pod covering the finale!) Some of you may be joyous over the fact that I won’t be posting anymore Westeros mashups, but then again, some of you aren’t right in the head. I come back to you, rested and perky, much like Cersei Lannister’s body double’s breasts, ready to get back on my job, which is dropping hot lava rocks, praising the Elder God chosen, and mercilessly disintegrated the souls of the weak whom are causing those of us unfortunate enough to own them, to drop our drawls, grab our ankles, and take a 3 foot rod all the way to the guts. No mercy, no fear.
I am Tehol Beddict, and this is Disgrace/Delight. Take heed!
Please, blog, may I have some more?When we started this series in the offseason, I asked for suggestions of who you’d like to see profiled. Alexander Reyes was one of the names that popped up immediately, so let’s take a look at the Cardinals’ right-hander as our first pick from the request line. Reyes checked in at #3 in my Cardinals Top 10 this offseason, just behind outfielder Stephen Piscotty and southpaw Marco Gonzales. The 20-year-old Reyes is off to a fantastic start this season with High-A Palm Beach and he’s a player that should get even more buzz when midseason prospect lists are launched over the next few weeks. Let’s see what all the fuss is about. WARNING: The velocity discussed in this post is not suitable for children.
Please, blog, may I have some more?I remember back to the heydays of the public service announcement that would grace the network telecasts of things like baseball games. (Sidenote: Apparently I also remember back to the days when folks would use the word heydey….and folks.)
One such PSA was on peer pressure and it would feature a couple of kids: One doing something they shouldn’t be doing and the other hesitating on whether to do the same or stand strong. Inevitably, the ne’er do well of the duo would say something influential like “Come on, do it.” and “Go ahead, try it, everybody’s doing it.”
Some people in the DFS realm might tell you not to roster two starting pitchers together in the same game. The thinking is that you’ll limit yourself in the all-important win points from the SP if both pitchers are in the same game. After all, only one may win.
But in DraftKings, that win isn’t always the carrot you need to chase when it comes to starting pitchers. A nice cash game score in DK would be around 120-130. A win is four points, which isn’t insignificant, but it’s a mere pittance compared to the overall number. On another site, you might see a win being worth four points, too, but the point total to cash will be around 40. So while a win is worth almost 10 percent of the cash line for that site, a win is worth around .03% on DraftKings. This frees you up to take on more risks with pitchers that may not win, but are in good positions to score some value for you.
One such situation is occurring tonight in Pittsburgh, where the Cincinnati Reds and the hometown Pirates are sharing a Vegas line of 6.5, with Gerrit Cole established as a significant favorite (-190). In situations like this, on a weak SP slate as it is tonight, you may want to tackle both sides of the 6.5 line.
The Pirates are 22nd against RHP this season and 24th overall over the last 14 days, both with over a 20% K rate. Mike Leake isn’t awesome, but he’s solid, especially on this slate, rocking a 3.20 SIERA, 3.1 K/BB ratio and a 54% groundball rate over the last 30 days.
Sure, Cole looks great and is worth being rostered at home with his nine Ks/9 IP, great control, a high groundball rate of his own and a 3.03 SIERA over the last five starts. But why not roster both?
Everybody’s doing it.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 25 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
Please, blog, may I have some more?For one day, let’s put our troubles away and bask in Nolan Arenado. No, I want you to shove your troubles further under the rug than they usually are. Here, give me your high school depantsing, the girl that dumped you the day before prom, you walking in on your mother and the mechanic and all your other emotional scars and lift the rug, I’ll slide them under. There. *wipes hands* Now, you are unencumbered to enjoy The Torenado. He hit two homers yesterday to bring his total to 19, and he’s hitting .287 with a .271 BABIP. Yes, he’s actually been unlucky. You can likely tell from the ends of my mustache turning upwards, but he should actually be better. He’s on pace for a 35-homer, .290 season with ease! Again, with some stank — EASE! Help me, Auntie Em, it’s a Torenado and my house is spinning and my Yorkie is barking and I’m landing on a person. Oh, shucks, I landed on Pablo Sandoval. If you followed my rankings, and drafted Arenado. You’re welcome. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Jace Peterson (+25.9%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. SAGBJ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as SAGNOF, I’ll admit. Sounds like a disappointing sexual experience or something. Or perhaps just a disappointing Upton brother. Peterson has been anything but disappointing in his first season as Atlanta’s starting second baseman however. Through Sunday’s games, Peterson has produced a .284/.363/.389 triple slash line with 2 home runs, 28 runs scored, 31 RBI, and 8 stolen bases across 265 PA. His 10.9% BB% leads all qualified MLB middle infielders, which has helped to cement his position as the Braves everyday leadoff hitter. Peterson has speed to burn, which can be seen in his 148 steals in 389 career minor league games, so his 8 steals this season might be just the tip of the iceberg.
One thing to keep an eye on is Peterson’s success rate (or lack thereof) on the basepaths. He’s already been caught stealing 8 times this season (2nd highest total in MLB), leading to a 50% success rate on steal attempts, which is uglier than Eric Stoltz in his full Mask makeup. If that rate doesn’t improve soon, Peterson’s green light could turn red in a hurry. It doesn’t seem like a big issue for the team at the moment though. For fantasy owners, steals got the Jace face. If you have a need for speed, you know what to do. Run, Jace, run.
Here are a couple of other significant adds and drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:
Please, blog, may I have some more?A group of men debating the guilt or innocence of another…sounds like our comments section. This is one of the rare movies where I enjoyed the original and the 1997 remake. Damn, that was really a star studded cast. Yes, Tony Danza is a star, he was in Cannonball Run II! That’s one movie series I would hate to see remade. Is it me, or is Hollywood stuck in a rut? [Jay’s Note: I wonder why?] It feels like every week a poorly done remake or reboot that should of been left alone is coming out. Poltergeist, really Hollywood?…really. I don’t even need to see that to know it’s crap. Wait, this has nothing to with anything today, except what spun out of my head when I saw Tony Danza’s name. If I was Grey, this would make for the perfect segue to a Alyssa Milano dating someone who plays baseball for the Dodgers reference. Dah, I did it again… You would think I would be talking about me with the word angry in the title, but nope, this is the RCL update and it’s about you. Okay, mostly about you and a little about “us”. Follow me after the jump and you’ll know what I’m talking about…
Please, blog, may I have some more?I just can’t resist myself when it comes to a baaaaad sheep pun and my buddy Jake Lamb. Jake’s had a pretty rough go of things since coming off the DL including being 0 for his last 10. Do you know what can end a rough patch faster than a scalded dog? A trip to Coors field, that’s what. The Diamondbacks pack up and head from Coors South to Coors Coors and I’m going to be all over Jake Lamb while he visits. Because of Lamb’s missed time it’s hard to get a great read on where he’s at as a hitter. In his 22 games so far this season he’s got an identical wOBA as his teammate, Yasmany Tomas (.342) and a very similar SLG percentage (.418 vs. .429). Looking back to his minor league numbers last season we can see he was just obliterating AA (.318/.399/.551). The kid can hit and with the Coors assist I like him to have a nice few days.
As for the second part of my title, DraftKings is running a fun little survivor tournament that starts tonight. I’m a big fan of these style tournaments, I think they are lots of fun. You can read the details on the tournament here. This is the first of three of these they will be running at various price points. The one tonight happens to be their “medium” tournament. The smallest stake event will feature a $5 buy-in and if you’ve never done one before, I encourage you to give it a whirl. The biggest deal is, you need to have the 4 days to be able to build a lineup. For the most part you play each day as you would a regular 50/50 game. Survive the second day and you’re in the money. If you make it to the final day, you’ve made your money back and can shoot for the moon and the 30 grand top prize. Not bad for a $27 buy-in. I said for the most part you can play this as a regular 50/50 because I tend to be a little more aggressive in these tournaments than a typical 50/50. The reason is, the pros and those with money to burn will be running some large trains in this thing, trying to push through multiple entries to the end and the guaranteed money. I’m not saying to go totally crazy but when choosing between Byron Buxton and Torii Hunter for your final roster spot, lean towards the upside. Here’s a couple more picks to help you survive tonight…
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 18 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Maikellebrew strikes again! And again! Two homers last night for Maikel Franco (4-for-5, 3 runs, 5 RBIs, hitting .312), his 8th and 9th homers of the season in only his 36th game played. That prorates to, like, 189 homers in a season. (Don’t do the math.) Perhaps I’m drenched in jade, the mother jewel of sarcasm. Perhaps my cup runneth over with Blasé like a bored rapper. Perhaps I’m all cosmopolitan and citified and other words Charlie Manuel would call me, but why do I get the feeling Maikel is going to have a great rookie year than disappoint for the next three years? Has Bruce, Heyward, Machado and so many others taken away my innocence? Is that a Black Flag bumper sticker on a Cadillac? Don’t look back, I can never look back. I sure hope I’m wrong, but with each homer by Maikel, his hype grows and he moves further away from my clutches. But, if we are to entertain the insane for a moment, he’s only 22 years old. What does his future hold? Does only the papier-mâché head of Michael Jack Schmidt that sits on Prospect Mike desk hold the answers? Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s funny how drastic and immediate changes can be from the Minors to the Majors. Thinking back on Trevor May who was profiled a few weeks back – the guy was walking everyone in the Minors and in his short stint in the Majors last year, to become top-25 in K:BB ratio.
But that took some seasoning. We’re seeing something even drastic-er and immediate-er with what’s going on with the Astros younguns. Lance McCullers went from being old Trevor May with better Ks to having an 18:0 K:BB stretch before getting a tad wilder these past few… But he was supposed to struggle through control issues, not Vincent Velasquez! Vinny V went from a 4.11 K:BB mowing through AA this year to 1.70 so far this year in the show with 17 Ks and 10 BB through his first three starts.
I was pretty high on Velasquez when he was called up, but maybe it was a tad too early for the 23 year old to find immediate success. So I decided to break down his start yesterday, that should’ve been a cakewalk at the Mariners, to see how he’s looking:
Please, blog, may I have some more?This is the Saves Ain’t Got No Face “eff the team managers” edition which will give me a chance to both vent and try to deflect blame for bad calls I’ve made. Joe Maddon of the Cubs decided to go a different route on his closer situation by removing Hector Rondon from the role. For like three days. And I make the call that Pedro Strop had a good chance to take over as closer. Eff Joe Maddon. Then in Tampa (Joe Maddon’s old team.. coincidence??) the following sequence happened: 1. Brad Boxberger gets dinged, Kevin Jepsen becomes the interim closer, (arguably) leapfrogging Jake McGee in the process. 2. Boxberger came back, blew a save. 3. Jake McGee (seemingly) takes over as closer. 4. Kevin Jepsen notches a (random) save. 5. Brad Boxberger (seemingly) regains closer role. As of Sunday, the last 15/30 days for Rays Saves is 2/4 for Jepsen, 3/3 for McGee, 3/6 for Boxberger. Last week I claimed Jake McGee was the new closer. He gets zero save attempts this week. Keep reading folks because this is really just the beginning of the latest twist and turns which will leave you wanting to pull out your hair. (Plus recommendations to follow…)
Please, blog, may I have some more?Grey is back for the Razzball Pod alongside Sky and I for a threeway that would make any 3D printed Giancarlo Stanton jealous… On today’s show we talk Kyle Schwarber, Manny Machado, and put over/unders on HR and overall value from Todd Frazier. Grey got so mad at Sky’s bullishness! We also catch up on Max Scherzer‘s no-hitter and Chris Sale‘s fantastic run, and then talk some wily vets that are making an impact. Quick, bring Jaime Garcia an ice pack! Here’s the newest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more?